Systems and methods for rewards integration as a funding account

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for processing a rewards transaction including an accounts database storing information associated with accounts held by a financial institution including a payment account associated with a customer, a rewards account database storing information associated with reward accounts, including a rewards account associated with the customer, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is structured to receive transaction details that define a rewards transaction associated with the rewards account, receive a rewards transaction request associated with the rewards account, the rewards transaction request including a rewards amount and recipient details, debit an amount of points from the rewards account maintained by the financial institution and associated with the customer, where the amount of points are less than or equal to the rewards amount, and complete the rewards transaction without converting the rewards amount to currency.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/392,435 filed Dec. 28, 2016 and entitled “Systems and Methods forRewards Integration as a Funding Account,” which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field ofredeeming rewards.

BACKGROUND

Many issuers of credit cards offer rewards points to customers. Forexample, some credit card issuers provide one reward point for everydollar spent on the credit card. Accordingly, as a customer continues touse a rewards credit card, the customer accumulates rewards points. Thecustomer can then redeem the rewards points. Some credit cards restricthow the accumulated rewards points can be redeemed. For example, somerewards points can only be used for a statement credit or as cash back,while other rewards points can only be used to purchase goods andservices from a rewards catalog.

SUMMARY

A first example embodiment relates to a system. The system includes anaccounts database storing information associated with accounts held by afinancial institution including a payment account associated with acustomer, a rewards account database storing information associated withreward accounts, including a rewards account associated with thecustomer, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is structuredto receive transaction details that define a rewards transactionassociated with the rewards account, receive a rewards transactionrequest associated with the rewards account, the rewards transactionrequest including a rewards amount and recipient details, debit anamount of points from the rewards account maintained by the financialinstitution and associated with the customer, where the amount of pointsare less than or equal to the rewards amount, and complete the rewardstransaction without converting the rewards amount to currency.

Another example embodiment relates to a method of performing a rewardstransaction. The method includes receiving, by a financial institutioncomputing system, a rewards transaction request associated with arewards account, the rewards transaction request including a rewardsamount and recipient details, debiting, an amount of points from therewards account maintained by the financial institution and associatedwith the customer, wherein the amount of points is less than or equal tothe rewards amount, and completing the rewards transaction withoutconverting the rewards amount to currency.

A further example embodiment relates to an apparatus. The apparatusincludes a transaction processing circuit and an account managementcircuit included in a financial institution computing system associatedwith a financial institution. The transaction processing circuit isconfigured to receive a rewards transaction request associated with therewards account, the transaction request including a rewards amount andrecipient details. The account management circuit is configured to debitan amount of points from the rewards account maintained by the financialinstitution and associated with the customer, where the amount of pointsis less than or equal to the rewards balance.

These and other features, together with the organization and manner ofoperation thereof, will become apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a rewards transaction system, according toan example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view of a flow diagram of a method of processing a rewardstransaction, according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 3 through 6 show various user interfaces of a customer deviceduring a rewards transaction process as described in the method of FIG.2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the figures generally, systems, methods, and apparatusesfor performing a rewards transaction are described herein. A customer ofa financial institution having a rewards account associated with apayment account can perform transactions with points instead of currencywithout the need to first convert the points to currency. To perform thetransaction using reward points, the customer selects a designatedrewards account as a funding account for a transaction and entersrewards transaction details using the customer device. After selecting arewards account as a funding account for a transaction and enteringrewards transaction details using the customer device, the financialinstitution checks the rewards balance to see if the rewards transactioncan be performed and processes the transaction as a rewards transactionwithout first converting the rewards to currency.

As used herein, “points” refers to rewards issued by a financialinstitution to a customer that can be redeemed through the financialinstitution and/or exchanged into currency by the financial institutionat an exchange rate that is defined by the financial institution. Insome arrangements, points are not generally accepted outside of thefinancial institution, and thus, have no value outside of the financialinstitution. In other arrangements, points maintain a value toinstitutions other than the financial institution. “Currency” refers tofiat currency (e.g., U.S. Dollars, Euros, etc.) or other forms ofgenerally accepted money (e.g., math-based currencies, cryptocurrencies, etc.) that are not issued by the financial institution andthat can be used by the customer directly to make purchases, pay bills,make withdrawals, etc.

An example implementation may be described as follows. A customer opensa banking application on a mobile device. The customer logs into thebanking application and selects an option to make a transfer in currency(e.g., U.S. Dollars) to another individual (e.g., in a peer-to-peertransfer) that is funded with reward points. The customer may first viewa reward points balance to ensure that the balance is sufficient tocover the transfer transaction. The customer enters the transfertransaction details including the recipient name, transfer amount, andmay select the account to use for the transaction. The customer mayenter the transfer amount in either reward points or currency.Accordingly, the customer may toggle between reward point and currencyamounts if desired. If the customer enters a transfer amount that ishigher than the reward points balance, the application will notify thecustomer that there are insufficient funds to complete the transactionand will prompt the customer to enter a lower amount of reward pointsand/or currency or to cancel the transaction. When the customer entersan amount of reward points that is lower than the total amount of thetransaction, the application will display a corresponding currencyamount indicating the amount of currency needed to cover the remainderof the transaction if the reward points are first applied. If thecustomer enters the lower amount of reward points and selects the submitoption on the application, the transaction is processed with the loweramount of reward points plus the currency remainder amount displayed tothe customer. In some arrangements when there are insufficient rewardspoints to fund the transfer, the customer may be presented the option topartially fund the transaction with rewards and to fund the differencewith a currency source (e.g., a checking account, a credit card, etc.).In some arrangements, the transaction is processed without firstconverting the reward points to currency.

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a rewards transaction system 100is shown according to an example embodiment. Generally, the system 100facilitates a transaction by a customer 106 (e.g., a peer-to-peertransfer from the customer 106 to another user) using points from arewards account associated with the customer and maintained by afinancial institution 102. In some arrangements, the rewards account isassociated with a payment account (e.g., a credit account, a line ofcredit, a demand deposit account, a prepaid account, etc.) maintained bythe financial institution 102. In such arrangements, the customer 106may accrue points in the rewards account by paying for purchases fromthe payment account, paying off balances associated with the paymentaccount, and/or promotions associated with the payment account. Forexample, the payment account may be a credit account in which thecustomer 106 earns a certain number of points for every dollar spentwith the credit account (e.g., one point for one dollar, two points forone dollar, a certain percentage of the amount of purchases made, etc.)and/or a certain number of points for every dollar of balance paid off.Through the system, the customer 106 can complete transactions usingreward points via the customer device 116 without having to firstconvert the reward points to currency.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a financial institutioncomputing system 104 associated with a financial institution 102, wherethe financial institution computing system 104 is communicably andoperatively coupled to a customer device 116 associated with a customer106, over a network 110. The network 110 provides communicable andoperative coupling between the customer device 116 and the financialinstitution computing system 104, and other components disclosed anddescribed herein to provide and facilitate the exchange ofcommunications (e.g., data, instructions, messages, values, commands,etc.). Accordingly, the network 110 may include any network includingwired (e.g., Ethernet) and/or wireless networks (e.g., 802.11X, ZigBee,Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.). In some arrangements, the network 110 includesthe Internet. In further embodiments, the network 110 includes aproprietary banking network to provide secure or substantially securecommunications.

The customer device 116 includes any type of computing device that maybe used to facilitate reward transactions at a financial institution102. In some arrangements, the customer uses the customer device 116 toperform reward transactions. The customer device 116 may include anywearable and non-wearable device. Wearable devices refer to any type ofdevice that an individual wears including, but not limited to, a watch(e.g., smart watch), glasses (e.g., eye glasses, sunglasses, smartglasses, etc.), bracelet (e.g., a smart bracelet), etc. The customerdevice 116 may also include any type of mobile device including, but notlimited to, a phone (e.g., smartphone, etc.), and/or any type ofcomputing devices (e.g., desktop computer, laptop computer, personaldigital assistant, etc.).

The customer device 116 further includes a display 142, an input/outputcircuit 144, a network interface 140, and a client application 148. Thenetwork interface 140 of the customer device 116 is adapted for andconfigured to establish a communication session via the network 110 withthe financial institution computing system 104. Accordingly, the networkinterface 140 includes any of a cellular transceiver (Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Long-Term Evolution (LTE), etc.), a wireless network transceiver (e.g.,802.11X, ZigBee, Bluetooth, etc.), or a combination thereof (e.g., botha cellular transceiver and a Bluetooth transceiver).

The display 142 is used to present rewards account information, paymentaccount information, transaction information, and the like. The display142 is further used to present transaction prompts and confirmations tothe customer 106. In this regard, the display 142 is communicably andoperatively coupled to the input/output circuit 144 to provide a userinterface for receiving and displaying information on the customerdevice 116.

The input/output circuit 144 is structured to receive and providecommunication(s) to a user of the customer device 116. In this regard,the input/output circuit 144 is structured to exchange data,communications, instructions, etc., with an input/output component ofthe customer device 116. Accordingly, in one embodiment, theinput/output circuit 144 includes an input/output device such as adisplay device, a touchscreen, a keyboard, and a microphone. In anotherembodiment, the input/output circuit 144 may include communicationcircuitry for facilitating the exchange of data, values, messages, andthe like between an input/output device and the components of the userdevice 170. In yet another embodiment, the input/output circuit 144 mayinclude machine-readable media for facilitating the exchange ofinformation between the input/output device and the components of thecustomer device 116. In still another embodiment, the input/outputcircuit 144 may include any combination of hardware components (e.g., atouchscreen), communication circuitry, and machine-readable media.

The client application 148 is communicably coupled to the financialinstitution computing system 104 (e.g., the accounts database 134,reward accounts database 136) via the network 110 and is structured topermit management of the customer's accounts (e.g., payment accounts,reward accounts) via the client application 148. In this regard, theclient application 148 may provide displays indicative of currentaccount balances, pending transactions, profile information (e.g.,contact information), and the like. Further, in some embodiments, theclient application 148 may also permit payments to and/or from thecustomer 106 to a designated recipient. For example, the clientapplication 148 may depict a loan of a customer (e.g., mortgage) andallow the user to pay the mortgage from one of their accounts (e.g.,checking or savings). In another example, a bill pay option may beprovided by the client application 148, where the bill pay option allowsthe user to pay his/her bills. In any of these examples, the clientapplication 148 may permit the user to complete a transfer transaction(e.g., peer-to-peer (P2P)), where the transaction includes an option totransfer reward points (e.g., as currency) to another individual using arewards account as the funding account.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the financial institution computing system104 is associated with the financial institution 102. The financialinstitution 102 may be, for example, a credit card issuer, a bank, orthe like. The financial institution computing system 104 includes aprocessing circuit 122 having a processor 124 and a memory 126. Theprocessor 124 may be implemented as a general-purpose processor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one or more fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digital signal processor (DSP), agroup of processing components, or other suitable electronic processingcomponents. The one or more memory devices 126 (e.g., RAM, NVRAM, ROM,Flash Memory, hard disk storage, etc.) may store data and/or computercode for facilitating the various processes described herein. Moreover,the one or more memory devices 126 may be or include tangible,non-transient volatile memory or non-volatile memory. Accordingly, theone or more memory devices 126 may include database components, objectcode components, script components, or any other type of informationstructure for supporting the various activities and informationstructures described herein.

The financial institution computing system 104 further includes anetwork interface 120, which is used to establish connections with othercomponents of the system 100 by way of network 110. The networkinterface 120 includes program logic that facilitates connection of thefinancial institution computing system 104 to the network 110. Thenetwork interface 120 supports communication between the financialinstitution computing system 104 and other systems, such as the customerdevice 116. For example, the network interface 120 includes a cellularmodem, a Bluetooth transceiver, a Bluetooth beacon, a radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) transceiver, and a near-field communication (NFC)transmitter. In some embodiments, the network interface 120 communicatesvia a secured wired connection within a branch of the financialinstitution 102. In some arrangements, the network interface 120includes the hardware and machine-readable media sufficient to supportcommunication over multiple channels of data communication. Further, insome arrangements, the network interface 120 includes cryptographycapabilities to establish a secure or relatively secure communicationsession with the financial institution computing system 104. In thisregard, financial data (or other types of data) may be encrypted andtransmitted to prevent or substantially prevent the threat of hacking.

The financial institution computing system 104 further includes anaccounts database 134. The accounts database 134 is configured to hold,store, categorize, and otherwise serve as a repository for informationassociated with accounts held by the financial institution 102. Forexample, the accounts database 134 may store account numbers, accountbalances, account ownership information, and the like. The accountsdatabase 134 may further store information regarding reward accountsassociated with payment accounts held at the financial institution 102.For example, the accounts database 134 can include which reward accountsare associated with which payment accounts at the financial institution102. The accounts database 134 is structured to selectively provideaccess to information relating to an account at the financialinstitution 102. In this regard, as discussed further herein, theaccounts database 134 is communicably and operatively coupled to theaccount management circuit 132 and transaction processing circuit 130such that the system 100 may facilitate reward transactions, includingP2P transfers using reward points. Although shown as being part of thememory 126, in some arrangements, the accounts database 134 is aseparate component of the financial institution computing system 104.

The financial institution computing system 104 further includes thereward accounts database 136. The reward accounts database 136 isconfigured to hold, store, categorize, and otherwise serve as arepository for information associated with reward accounts held by thefinancial institution 102. For example, the reward accounts database 136may store reward account numbers, reward account balances, rewardaccount ownership information, and the like. The reward accountsdatabase 136 may further store information regarding payment accountsassociated with reward accounts held at the financial institution 102.For example, the reward accounts database 136 can include which rewardaccounts are associated with which payment accounts at the financialinstitution 102. The reward accounts database 136 is structured toselectively provide access to information relating to a reward accountat the financial institution 102. In this regard, as discussed furtherherein, the reward accounts database 136 is communicably and operativelycoupled to the account management circuit 132 and transaction processingcircuit 130 such that the system 100 may facilitate reward transactions,including P2P transfers using reward points. Although shown as beingpart of the memory 126, in some arrangements, the reward accountsdatabase 136 is a separate component of the financial institutioncomputing system 104.

The financial institution computing system 104 includes a transactionprocessing circuit 130 and an account management circuit 132. AlthoughFIG. 1 shows the transaction processing circuit 130 and the accountmanagement circuit 132 as part of the processing circuit 122, in otherarrangements one of or both of the transaction processing circuit 130and/or the account management circuit 132 are embodied as separateprocessing circuits. Other arrangements may include more or lesscircuits without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. Further, some arrangements may combine the activities of onecircuit with another circuit to form a single circuit. Therefore, thoseof ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the presentarrangement is not meant to be limiting.

The transaction processing circuit 130 is structured to processtransaction requests associated with reward accounts of customers of thefinancial institution 102. The transaction processing circuit 130 isstructured to receive transaction requests directly from the customer106 (e.g., via the client application 148 of the customer device 116,via an ATM, via a banking website of the financial institution 102). Inone example, the transaction request is for a points-to-currencytransfer from a customer 106 to another customer of the financialinstitution 102 (e.g., P2P transfer). In another example, thetransaction request is for a transfer from a customer 106 to anon-customer. To complete a transfer transaction using reward points,the transaction requests can include recipient name, phone number, emailaddress, account number, transfer amount (e.g., in cash and/or rewardpoints), etc. If the transfer transaction is to a non-customer of thefinancial institution 102, the transaction request can also include thefinancial institution information of the non-customer (e.g., recipientidentification, recipient financial institution routing number, accountinformation, etc.). Although shown as being part of the processingcircuit 122, the transaction processing circuit 130 may be a stand-alonecircuit having its own processor and memory.

In another example, the transaction request is for a bill paytransaction to a utility company of the customer 106. In this case, thetransaction request can include a bill pay recipient (e.g., utilityprovider, mortgage, student loan provider, etc.) name, address, serviceaccount number, bill pay amount (e.g., in cash and/or reward points),etc. In still another example, the transaction request is for a loanpayment. In this case, the transaction request can include a loanpayment recipient (e.g., loan service, etc.), service account number,loan payment amount (e.g., in cash and/or reward points), etc. In otherexamples, the transaction request can be for any transaction completedusing reward points as a form of currency and can include any detailsnecessary to complete the transaction request.

The transaction processing circuit 130 is also structured to compare thetransaction amount (e.g., transfer amount, bill pay amount, loan paymentamount, etc.) to the available reward balance in the reward account todetermine that there are sufficient reward points to complete therequested transaction. Accordingly, the transaction processing circuit130 is communicably and operatively coupled to the reward accountsdatabase 136 to retrieve reward account balances. For example, thetransaction processing circuit 130 receives a transaction request from acustomer device 116 including a transfer transaction request indicatingthe transfer amount to be 10,000 reward points or an equivalent currencyamount (e.g., $100). The transaction processing circuit 130 retrievesthe reward account information from the reward accounts database 136 todetermine the reward account balance. If the transaction processingcircuit 130 determines that there are sufficient funds in the rewardaccount, the transaction processing circuit 130 initiates the requestedtransaction (e.g., transfer 10,000 points). In some arrangements, thetransaction processing circuit 130 initiates the transaction withoutconverting the points amount to a currency amount such that 10,000points are transferred as currency to an account of the transferrecipient (e.g., payee). For example, a transfer of 10,000 points fromthe customer 106 to a recipient is processed as a debit of 10,000 pointsfrom the customer's rewards account and a deposit of $100 to therecipient, as opposed to a first transaction that converts the 10,000points into currency still held by the customer 106, and then a secondtransaction that transfers the currency from the customer 106 to therecipient. In other arrangements, the transaction processing circuit 130converts the points to currency (e.g., US dollars) for deposit into acurrency account of the transfer recipient.

Upon determining that a reward account balance is insufficient tocomplete a transaction, the transaction processing circuit 130 isfurther structured to generate and transmit a message to the customerdevice 116 prompting the customer 106 to complete the transaction usingless reward points and/or complete the transaction using partial rewardpoints and partial currency. Accordingly, the transaction processingcircuit 130 sends the message to the customer device 116 (e.g., via theclient application 148), where the message includes a notice that thetransaction cannot be completed using only reward points. In somearrangements, the message may include an available reward pointsbalance. In further arrangements, the message may also include a promptfor the customer 106 to enter a lower reward points amount to useinstead of the originally requested amount. In some arrangements, themessage includes a cash remainder value, where the cash remainder valueshows the amount of currency needed to cover the difference between thereward points amount entered and the transaction amount (e.g., transferamount, bill pay amount, etc.). Accordingly, the transaction processingcircuit 130 gives the customer 106 the option to complete asplit-funding source transfer. For example, the customer 106 cantransfer currency to a recipient using partial reward points and partialcurrency (e.g., transfer of $100 using a combination of 5,000 rewardpoints and $50).

In cases where the reward account balance is insufficient to completethe transaction, the transaction processing circuit 130 is configured toreceive an indication of a lesser reward points amount to use in placeof the originally requested reward points amount. Upon receiving thelesser reward points amount, the transaction processing circuit 130determines the cash remainder amount and generates and transmits thecash remainder amount for display on the customer device 116. The cashremainder amount is displayed as a currency amount necessary to coverthe difference between the reward points amount and the transactionamount (e.g., transfer amount, bill pay amount, etc.). In somearrangements, when the customer 106 uses the customer device 116 (e.g.,via client application 148) to adjust the amount of reward points thecustomer 106 desires to use for the transaction, the cash remainderamount is updated in real-time to reflect the difference between thereward points amount and the transaction amount. For example, thetransaction request is for a transfer of 10,000 points, which, in theexample, is equivalent to $100. The customer rewards account indicates abalance of 5,000 points. To complete the transfer, the transactionprocessing circuit 130 requests the customer 106 enter a rewards amountof or below 5,000 points. If the customer enters 5,000 points, thegenerated cash remainder value is displayed as $50, or the differencebetween the transaction amount of 10,000 points (e.g., $100) and thereward points amount of 5,000 points (e.g., $50). If the customerinstead enters 4,000 points, the generated cash remainder value isdisplayed as $60, and so on.

The transaction processing circuit 130 is structured to initiate thetransaction request. Upon receiving an indication to complete thetransaction request from the customer device 116 (e.g., via the clientapplication 148), the transaction processing circuit 130 initiates thepayment, funds transfer, etc., and communicates with the accountmanagement circuit 132 to update the customer accounts held with thefinancial institution 102.

The account management circuit 132 is structured to perform variousaccount management functions, including maintaining an accounts database134, maintaining a reward accounts database 136, updating accountbalances, applying interest to accounts, processing payments related toaccounts, and the like. The account management circuit 132 is structuredto receive communication from the transaction processing circuit 130that a transaction is or will be completed. The account managementcircuit 132 is configured to communicate with the reward accountsdatabase 136 to update the reward account balance of the customer 106 toreflect the completed transaction. For example, before completion of thetransaction, the reward account balance was 15,000 points. Thetransaction request included a transfer of 10,000 points (e.g., $100) toanother individual. To reflect the transfer amount, the accountmanagement circuit 132 updates the reward account balance to reflect10,000 less points, thus update the balance to 5,000 points. Althoughshown as being part of the processing circuit 122, the accountmanagement circuit 132 may be a stand-alone circuit having its ownprocessor and memory.

In some arrangements where the customer 106 has entered a reward pointsamount below the total transaction amount, the account managementcircuit 132 communicates with both the reward accounts database 136 andthe accounts database 134 to update the account balances of the customer106 to reflect the completed transaction. For example, the customerchooses to use a reward points amount of 5,000 points and a currencyamount of $50 to complete a transfer of 10,000 points (e.g., or $100) toanother individual. The account management circuit 132 updates a rewardaccount balance of the customer 106 to reflect 5,000 less points andupdates a currency account balance of the customer 106 to reflect $50less in currency.

In some arrangements, the customer's currency account is debited in thesame manner as done during a traditional, currency-only transaction, andthe financial institution computing system 104 provides a credit to thecurrency account (e.g., a statement credit, a balance credit, etc.) tooffset at least a portion of the transaction amount. For example,instead of debiting the 5,000 points from the reward account balance ofthe customer 106, the account management circuit 132 debits the entire$100 from the currency account of the customer 106. The accountmanagement circuit 132 then debits the reward account balance to reflectthe reward points amount and updates the currency account to reflect acredit to the account (e.g., equivalent to the reward points amount).

Referring to FIG. 2, a flow diagram of a method 200 of processing arewards transaction is shown according to an example embodiment. Themethod 200 is performed by the financial institution computing system104 (e.g., via the transaction processing circuit 130 and the accountmanagement circuit 132). Through the method 200, the financialinstitution computing system 104 allows customers (e.g., the customer106) to perform rewards transactions instead of currency transactions.

A customer login is received at 202. The customer login is received atthe financial institution computing system 104 from the customer 106.The login may be received from the customer device 116 (e.g., through anonline banking website, through the client application 148), via an ATM,or the like. The login relates to an attempt by the customer 102 toaccess a banking portal associated with the customer's accounts held atthe financial institution 106. In some arrangements, the login requestincludes authentication information associated with the customer 106(e.g., username, password, biometric information, device identifier,etc.). The financial institution computing system 118 compares thereceived authentication information against verified authenticationinformation associated with the customer 106 to authenticate thecustomer 106. If the customer 106 is authenticated, access to a bankingportal is provided at 204. The banking portal allows the customer 106 tocomplete a rewards transaction.

Transaction details are received at 206. The transaction details areinput by the customer 106. The transaction details are entered into thecustomer device 116, an ATM, or the like. The transaction details caninclude the type of transaction, such as a transfer of points, transferof currency, bill pay, loan payment, etc., a transaction amount, accountinformation, such as from which account to draw funds (e.g., rewardsaccount, currency account, etc.), date of transaction, and so on. Thetransaction details can also include recipient details, including therecipient name, account number, email address, physical address, phonenumber, and so on.

A rewards balance is determined at 208. In some arrangements, therewards balance is determined by the transaction processing circuit 130.In some arrangements, the transaction processing circuit 130 receivesthe transaction request, including the transaction details, from acustomer device 116 including a transfer transaction request indicatingthe transfer amount to be 10,000 reward points or an equivalent currencyamount (e.g., $100). The transaction processing circuit 130 retrievesthe reward account information from the reward accounts database 136 todetermine the reward account balance.

The reward points balance is compared to the transfer amount todetermine if there are enough reward points to complete the transactionrequest at 210. The transaction processing circuit 130 compares thereward account balance to the requested transfer amount. If thetransaction processing circuit 130 determines that there are sufficientfunds in the reward account, the transaction processing circuit 130initiates the requested transaction at 212.

If there are sufficient reward points in the rewards account, thetransaction is completed at 212. The transaction processing circuit 130proceeds to complete the transaction request by facilitating thepayment, transfer, etc., requested by the customer 116. For example, atransfer of 10,000 points from the customer 106 to a recipient isprocessed as a debit of 10,000 points from the customer's rewardsaccount and a deposit of $100 to the recipient, as opposed to a firsttransaction that converts the 10,000 points into currency still held bythe customer 106, and then a second transaction that transfers thecurrency from the customer 106 to the recipient.

Once the transaction is complete, the accounts of the customer areupdated to reflect the transaction at 214. In some arrangements, theaccounts are updated by the account management circuit 132. The accountmanagement circuit 132 communicates with the accounts database 134 andthe reward accounts database 136 to update accounts stored therein. Theaccount management circuit 132 receives the transaction details from thetransaction processing circuit 132, including the account number and thetransaction amount. The transaction amount may be wholly in rewardpoints, wholly in currency (e.g., US dollars), or may be split betweenreward points and currency (e.g., following processes 216-220). Theaccount number may be a rewards account number and/or a payment account(e.g., currency account) number. The account management circuit 130 usesthe transaction amount information to update the referenced accounts(e.g., reward accounts, currency accounts) of the customer 106.

After the accounts of the customer 106 are updated to reflect thecompleted transaction, the transaction sequence is then ended at 222.The transaction sequence may be ended by the financial institutioncomputing system 104 generating and transmitting a display screenconfirming the completion of the transaction request. In somearrangements, the transaction processing circuit 130 may generate amessage for display on the customer device 116 including a confirmationnumber related to the completion of the transaction.

If there are insufficient reward points in the rewards account, thecustomer is prompted to complete a split transaction using partialreward points and partial currency at 216. The transaction processingcircuit 130 is configured to generate and transmit a prompt to thecustomer 106 (e.g., via the client application 148, via an ATM, via anonline banking website, etc.) to request the customer 106 to indicatewhether the customer 106 desires to complete the transaction using bothreward points and currency. In some arrangements, the transactionprocessing circuit 130 sends the message to the customer device 116(e.g., via the client application 148), where the message includes anotice that the rewards account has insufficient funds to complete thetransaction using only reward points. In some arrangements, the messagemay include an available reward points balance.

The amount of reward points the customer desires to use is received at218. In some arrangements, the transaction processing circuit 130generates and transmits the message with a prompt for the customer 106to enter a lower reward points amount to use instead of the originallyrequested reward points amount. In some arrangements, the messageincludes a cash remainder value, where the cash remainder value showsthe amount of currency needed to cover the difference between the rewardpoints amount entered and the transaction amount (e.g., transfer amount,bill pay amount, etc.). Accordingly, the customer 106 can view theamount needed to cover the remainder of the transaction that is notcovered by reward points and make a determination of whether to proceedwith the transaction.

In some arrangements, if the customer desires not to complete thetransaction using a split between reward points and currency, thecustomer 106 may exit the banking portal (e.g., close the clientapplication 148, retrieve card from ATM, close online banking website,select an exit option from the client application 148, ATM screen, oronline banking website, etc.). The transaction sequence is then ended at222.

If the customer enters a lesser reward points amount, the splittransaction using reward points and currency is processed at 220. Insome arrangements, the transaction processing circuit 130 processes thetransaction request partially using reward points and partially usingcurrency (e.g., US dollars). Accordingly, in some arrangements, thetransaction processing circuit 130 is further configured to determinethat sufficient funds are available to cover the cash remainder portionof the transaction. The transaction processing circuit 130 thencompletes the transaction by transferring the reward points andcurrency, paying a bill of the customer, etc. The rewards account andthe currency account of the customer 106 are updated to reflect thecompleted transaction at 214. The transaction processing circuit 130communicates the completed transaction details to the account managementcircuit 132 to update the accounts of the customer 106 to reflect thecompleted transaction. The transaction is then ended at 222 as describedabove.

Referring to FIGS. 3-6, various user interfaces displayed by the system100 are shown, according to example embodiments. The user interfaces maybe displayed to the customer 106 on the customer device 116 (e.g., viathe client application 148). The customer 106 first logs into the clientapplication 148 or to a mobile banking website portal via the customerdevice 116 to access the banking portal. Through the banking portal, thecustomer 106 can select from a number of options relating to thecustomer's rewards account. The options include a “View Points Balance”selection 302, a “Transfer Money” selection 304, a “Pay Bill” selection306, a “Purchase Merchandise” selection 308, and an “Exit” selection310. If the customer 106 selects the “View Points Balance” selection302, the user interface of the banking portal updates to display thecustomer's rewards points balance at 402 (as shown in FIG. 4). As shownin FIG. 4, the rewards point balance may also show a converted currencyamount. For example, as shown the reward points balance is shown as1,000 points at 404 and the converted currency amount is shown as $10.00at 405. From the user interface displayed in FIG. 4, the customer 106can select a “Redeem Cash Back” selection 406, a “Transfer Money”selection 408, or an “Exit” selection 410.

If the customer 106 selects the “Transfer Money” selection on eitherdisplay 300 or 400 (e.g., Transfer Money selection 304, Transfer Moneyselection 408), the user interface of the banking portal updates todisplay a transfer details display 500 (as shown in FIG. 5). Thetransfer details display 500 allows the customer 106 to provide detailsregarding a transfer transaction to the financial institution computingsystem 104. The available options on display 500 are presented to thecustomer 106 as a series of selections 504, 508, 510, 512. When thecustomer 106 interacts with a given selection, the customer 106 canenter transfer transaction details, submit the transaction details, orexit the banking portal. The transfer transaction details may includeany of recipient name, email address, phone number, transfer amount, orthe like. For example, at 502, the customer 106 can select a recipientby name from a drop-down menu 504. The drop-down menu 504 can includerecipient names, email addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, andthe like. As a further example, the customer 106 can enter an amount totransfer to the recipient at 508. The transfer amount can be displayedin currency, as shown in FIG. 5, or can be displayed as reward points.Once the customer 106 has entered a transfer amount, the customer 106can select the “Submit” selection 510 to transmit the transactiondetails to the financial institution computing system 104 forprocessing. Alternatively, the customer 106 can exit the banking portalby selecting “Exit” selection 512.

If the customer 106 selects the “Submit” selection 510 to complete thetransfer transaction and the rewards account balance is insufficient tocomplete the transaction with only reward points, the user interface ofthe banking portal updates to display an insufficient reward pointsdisplay 600. As shown, the insufficient reward points display 600 candisplay a user option 606 to input the number of rewards the customer106 would like to use in place of the originally requested reward pointsamount. The display 600 generates and updates a cash remainder display608 with every user reward points input instance. The cash remainderdisplay 608 shows the amount of currency needed to cover the remainderof the transaction with the amount of points currently entered by thecustomer 106. For example, the customer 106 in this case has input 500reward points and the display 600 has updated cash remainder display 608indicating that an extra $10 is needed to cover the remainder of thetransaction not covered by the 500 reward points. While viewing thisinformation, the customer 106 can select the “Submit” selection 610 tocomplete the transaction using the currently entered partial rewardpoints and partial currency information. Alternatively, the customer 106can cancel the transaction request by selecting the “Cancel Transaction”selection 612.

The embodiments described herein have been described with reference todrawings. The drawings illustrate certain details of specificembodiments that implement the systems, methods and programs describedherein. However, describing the embodiments with drawings should not beconstrued as imposing on the disclosure any limitations that may bepresent in the drawings.

It should be understood that no claim element herein is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for.”

As used herein, the term “circuit” may include hardware structured toexecute the functions described herein. In some embodiments, eachrespective “circuit” may include machine-readable media for configuringthe hardware to execute the functions described herein. The circuit maybe embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but notlimited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheraldevices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc. In someembodiments, a circuit may take the form of one or more analog circuits,electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discrete circuits,system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, etc.), telecommunication circuits,hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.” In this regard, the“circuit” may include any type of component for accomplishing orfacilitating achievement of the operations described herein. Forexample, a circuit as described herein may include one or moretransistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR,etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors,diodes, wiring, and so on).

The “circuit” may also include one or more dedicated processorscommunicatively coupled to one or more dedicated memory or memorydevices. In this regard, the one or more processors may executeinstructions stored in the memory or may execute instructions otherwiseaccessible to the one or more processors. In some embodiments, the oneor more processors may be embodied in various ways. The one or moreprocessors may be constructed in a manner sufficient to perform at leastthe operations described herein. In some embodiments, the one or moreprocessors may be shared by multiple circuits (e.g., circuit A andcircuit B may comprise or otherwise share the same processor which, insome example embodiments, may execute instructions stored, or otherwiseaccessed, via different areas of memory). Alternatively or additionally,the one or more processors may be structured to perform or otherwiseexecute certain operations independent of one or more co-processors. Inother example embodiments, two or more processors may be coupled via abus to enable independent, parallel, pipelined, or multi-threadedinstruction execution. Each processor may be implemented as one or moregeneral-purpose processors, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), or other suitable electronic data processingcomponents structured to execute instructions provided by memory. Theone or more processors may take the form of a single core processor,multi-core processor (e.g., a dual core processor, triple coreprocessor, quad core processor, etc.), microprocessor, etc.

An example system for implementing the overall system or portions of theembodiments might include a general purpose computing computers in theform of computers, including a processing unit, a system memory, and asystem bus that couples various system components including the systemmemory to the processing unit. Each memory device may includenon-transient volatile storage media, non-volatile storage media,non-transitory storage media (e.g., one or more volatile and/ornon-volatile memories), etc. In some embodiments, the non-volatile mediamay take the form of ROM, flash memory (e.g., flash memory such as NAND,3D NAND, NOR, 3D NOR, etc.), EEPROM, MRAM, magnetic storage, hard discs,optical discs, etc. In other embodiments, the volatile storage media maytake the form of RAM, TRAM, ZRAM, etc. Combinations of the above arealso included within the scope of machine-readable media. In thisregard, machine-executable instructions comprise, for example,instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform acertain function or group of functions. Each respective memory devicemay be operable to maintain or otherwise store information relating tothe operations performed by one or more associated circuits, includingprocessor instructions and related data (e.g., database components,object code components, script components, etc.), in accordance with theexample embodiments described herein.

It should also be noted that the term “input devices,” as describedherein, may include any type of input device including, but not limitedto, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, joystick or other input devicesperforming a similar function. Comparatively, the term “output device,”as described herein, may include any type of output device including,but not limited to, a computer monitor, printer, facsimile machine, orother output devices performing a similar function.

Any foregoing references to currency or funds are intended to includefiat currencies, non-fiat currencies (e.g., precious metals), andmath-based currencies (often referred to as cryptocurrencies). Examplesof math-based currencies include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and thelike.

It should be noted that although the diagrams herein may show a specificorder and composition of method steps, it is understood that the orderof these steps may differ from what is depicted. For example, two ormore steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence.Also, some method steps that are performed as discrete steps may becombined, steps being performed as a combined step may be separated intodiscrete steps, the sequence of certain processes may be reversed orotherwise varied, and the nature or number of discrete processes may bealtered or varied. The order or sequence of any element or apparatus maybe varied or substituted according to alternative embodiments.Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included withinthe scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.Such variations will depend on the machine-readable media and hardwaresystems chosen and on designer choice. It is understood that all suchvariations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, softwareand web implementations of the present disclosure could be accomplishedwith standard programming techniques with rule based logic and otherlogic to accomplish the various database searching steps, correlationsteps, comparison steps and decision steps.

The foregoing description of embodiments has been presented for purposesof illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive orto limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed, and modificationsand variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may beacquired from this disclosure. The embodiments were chosen and describedin order to explain the principals of the disclosure and its practicalapplication to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. Other substitutions, modifications, changesand omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions andarrangement of the embodiments without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure as expressed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A financial institution computing systemassociated with a financial institution, the system comprising: anetwork interface structured to facilitate data communication via anetwork; an accounts database structured to store information associatedwith accounts held by the financial institution, including a paymentaccount associated with a customer; a rewards account databasestructured to store information associated with reward accounts held bythe financial institution, including a rewards account associated withthe customer; and a processing circuit comprising a processor andmemory, the processing circuit structured to: receive, from a clientapplication executing on a customer device associated with the customer,via the network interface, a rewards transaction request for a rewardstransaction associated with the rewards account, the rewards transactionrequest including a rewards amount and recipient details correspondingto a recipient account; determine that the rewards amount is higher thana rewards balance in the rewards account; generate an insufficient fundsmessage including a notice to the customer that the rewards balance istoo low to complete the rewards transaction; transmit the insufficientfunds message to the customer device for display, wherein theinsufficient funds message includes (i) a prompt for the customer toenter a customer preferred rewards amount, (ii) a remainder displayindicating funds necessary to cover a remainder of the rewardstransaction, the remainder calculated based on a difference between thecustomer preferred rewards amount and the rewards balance, and (iii) asubmit transfer prompt to proceed with the rewards transaction; updatethe remainder display based on the customer preferred rewards amountreceived; in response to receiving a submit transfer input via thesubmit transfer prompt, debit the customer preferred rewards amount fromthe rewards account; and debit the remainder of the rewards transactionfrom a customer selected account associated with the customer, whereinthe rewards transaction is completed as a single transaction withoutconverting the rewards amount to currency by debiting the customerpreferred rewards amount and depositing a currency value correspondingto the customer preferred rewards amount into the recipient account. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is furtherstructured to determine that the rewards amount of a second rewardstransaction is less than or equal to the rewards balance in the rewardsaccount.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit isfurther configured to debit an amount of funds necessary to cover theremainder of the rewards transaction from the payment account associatedwith the customer.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the rewardstransaction includes a split transaction comprising a transfer of rewardpoints and a transfer of currency.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein therecipient details include a recipient name and a recipient accountnumber.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit isfurther structured to transmit a transaction confirmation to thecustomer device.
 7. A method of performing rewards transactions, themethod comprising: receiving, by a financial institution computingsystem from a client application executing on a customer deviceassociated with a customer, via a network interface, a rewardstransaction request for a rewards transaction associated with a rewardsaccount, the rewards transaction request including a rewards amount andrecipient details corresponding to a recipient account; determining, bythe financial institution computing system, that the rewards amount ishigher than a rewards balance in the rewards account; generating, by thefinancial institution computing system, an insufficient funds messageincluding a notice to the customer that the rewards balance is too lowto complete the rewards transaction; transmitting, by the financialinstitution computing system, the insufficient funds message to thecustomer device for display, wherein the insufficient funds messageincludes (i) a prompt for the customer to enter a customer preferredrewards amount, (ii) a remainder display indicating funds necessary tocover a remainder of the rewards transaction, the remainder calculatedbased on a difference between the customer preferred rewards amount andthe rewards balance, and (iii) a submit transfer prompt to proceed withthe rewards transaction; updating, by the financial institutioncomputing system, the remainder display based on the customer preferredrewards amount received; in response to receiving a submit transferinput via the submit transfer prompt, debiting, by the financialinstitution computing system, the customer preferred rewards amount fromthe rewards account; and debiting, by the financial institutioncomputing system, the remainder of the rewards transaction from acustomer selected account associated with the customer, wherein therewards transaction is completed as a single transaction withoutconverting the rewards amount to currency by debiting the customerpreferred rewards amount and depositing a currency value correspondingto the customer preferred rewards amount into the recipient account. 8.The method of claim 7, further comprising determining, by the financialinstitution computing system, that the rewards amount of a secondrewards transaction is less than or equal to the rewards balance in therewards account.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising debiting,by the financial institution computing system, an amount of fundsnecessary to cover the remainder of the rewards transaction from apayment account associated with the customer.
 10. The method of claim 7,wherein the rewards transaction includes a split transaction comprisinga transfer of reward points and a transfer of currency.
 11. The methodof claim 7, wherein the recipient details include a recipient name and arecipient account number.
 12. The method of claim 7, further comprisingtransmitting, by the financial institution computing system, atransaction confirmation to the customer device.
 13. An apparatuscomprising: a transaction processing circuit included in a financialinstitution computing system associated with a financial institution,the transaction processing circuit configured to: receive, from a clientapplication executing on a customer device associated with a customer,via a network interface, a rewards transaction request for a rewardstransaction associated with a rewards account, the rewards transactionrequest including a rewards amount and recipient details correspondingto a recipient account; and an account management circuit configured to:determine that the rewards amount is higher than a rewards balance inthe rewards account; generate an insufficient funds message including anotice to the customer that the rewards balance is too low to completethe rewards transaction; transmit the insufficient funds message to thecustomer device for display, wherein the insufficient funds messageincludes (i) a prompt for the customer to enter a customer preferredrewards amount, (ii) a remainder display indicating funds necessary tocover a remainder of the rewards transaction, the remainder calculatedbased on a difference between the customer preferred rewards amount andthe rewards balance, and (iii) a submit transfer prompt to proceed withthe rewards transaction; in response to receiving a submit transferinput via the submit transfer prompt, debit the customer preferredrewards amount of points from the rewards account; debit the remainderof the rewards transaction from a customer selected account associatedwith the customer, wherein the rewards transaction is completed requestas a single transaction without converting the rewards amount tocurrency by debiting the customer preferred rewards amount anddepositing a currency value corresponding to the customer preferredrewards amount into the recipient account.
 14. The apparatus of claim13, wherein the transaction processing circuit is further configured todetermine that the rewards amount of a second rewards transaction isless than or equal to the rewards balance in the rewards account. 15.The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the account management circuit isfurther configured to debit an amount of funds necessary to cover theremainder of the rewards transaction from a payment account associatedwith the customer.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the rewardstransaction includes a split transaction comprising a transfer of rewardpoints and a transfer of currency.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the recipient details include a recipient name and a recipientaccount number.
 18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the transactionprocessing circuit is further configured to transmit a transactionconfirmation to the customer device.